Three Takeaways From No. 9/10 IUWBB's 87-73 Win At Maryland

Hoosiers Use Dominant First Half To Pick Up First Ever Win At Maryland

Assembly Hall Where Indiana Indiana Plays Their Home Game

Hoosiers Respond To Major Adversity This Time To Seal Victory

In last year’s Big Ten Tourney semi-finals, the Hoosiers raced to a 20-point halftime lead. However, a banged-up Mackenzie Holmes and an inability to handle Ohio State’s press led to an epic collapse and loss.

The Cream and Crimson faced a similar predicament on Wednesday as they built a 22-point halftime lead that was dwindling. After holding the Terps to 30 points in the first half, the next 10 minutes was a major struggle defensively. Maryland trimmed the lead to nine by scoring 29 points coming out of the locker room in the third quarter.

However, with things looking bleak, IU responded to the pressure. Early in the final stanza, Holmes dove on the floor to force a jump ball with the possession arrow in favor of her team. Then leading 72-65 a regular foul and technical were called on the Terrapins and IU extended the advantage back to double figures. Then came the play of the night when Lexus Bargesser dove on the floor for a loose ball and got it ahead to Yarden Garzon for a layup forcing a timeout. By the time Maryland scored again, the Hoosiers had gone on a 10-0 run over four minutes and the game was over other than the time left to play out.

Even Without Sydney Parrish Offense Is Still Humming And Forcing Opposing Defenses To Make Tough Choices

Without having Sydney Parrish for the foreseeable future, IU no longer has four elite shooters surrounding Holmes. Even with three top players on the wing though, the Hoosiers still are forcing the opposition to make tough choices to try to stop them.

This was very evident on Wednesday. The Terps started by playing a zone that involved doubling and tripling the post to take Holmes away. This allowed Indiana to find multiple open looks in the first 20 minutes from long range. They hit eight triples led by Sara Scalia’s four in the opening stanza. Then out of the locker room, Maryland changed strategies taking the deep shots away. Holmes and her teammates used this to get easy baskets down low to put the contest away.

No matter what their opponent tries, the Hoosiers always have an answer to put the ball in the basket with their multiple ways to attack. This was no more evident than in College Park when both strategies by Maryland to slow down Indiana failed.

Bargesser Has Best Game As Hoosier In Parrish’s Absence

Lexus Bargesser has taken Parrish’s spot in the starting five. Despite providing elite defense and hustle, she did not score in either of her first two games with an increased role. That changed on Wednesday night when Bargesser contributed nine critical points and even hit a shot from long range. If she can continue to provide some offense going forward, Indiana is in much better shape to survive Parrish’s absence.

The Hoosiers improved to 18-2 overall and 9-1 in the league and have a showdown Sunday on the road with co-Big Ten leader Ohio State (noon on FS1). IU had won five straight over the Buckeyes, including three consecutive in Columbus before the aforementioned collapse in the conference tournament late last season.

The postgame show with Jeff Marlow and Kathy Amos can be seen here: